The Time Has Come
by goldgirlbomb
Summary: Sam and Eduardo are living happily with their daughter Lily on the Sirius. But not all is what it appears to be. What will happen to the new family when an old friend comes back? Sequel to "When You Least Expect It"
1. Chapter 1

"Lily, come over here please!" Sam called out to her daughter, placing another folded shirt into the laundry basket. .

The squealing little girl skipped over to her mother, grabbing at the hem of her skirt. Lily's eyes gleamed up at her mother as she smiled, her dark black hair blowing in the wind. Lily was now six years old, and had grown to be quite the little beauty. She still held eyes just like her mothers, but whenever she smiled, Sam could see that little part of Eduardo in her. That and at the fiery age of six, she'd already developed her own sense of sarcasm that Sam couldn't have fathomed when she was her age. A trait she only could've gotten from her father. More and more she started to remind Sam of Eduardo, and it always brought a smile to Sam's face.

"Mommy! When is daddy coming back?" Lily asked.

Sam smiled and rubbed the top of the little girl's head. "He and the other boys just went into town. They won't be back until later this afternoon." Lily pouted her lip out and went over to the doll she'd dropped on the floor, picking it back up and resuming her play closer to her mother.

Thomas climbed down from his post and landed next to Lily. "What, you don't like having just me around anymore? You used to like me." He complained teasingly, puckering out his lower lip.

Lily giggled. "I still do Uncle Thomas!"

Thomas poked the little girl gently in her tummy. "Then how about you help me keep watch up top? Give your mom a little break."

Lily's grin spread across her face and she spun around, beaming up at Sam. "Can I mommy? Please?"

Sam smiled, nodding her head as she folded some more clothes. "Just be careful you two." Thomas nodded at Sam, then gathered the little girl in his arms, and climbed up to the eagle's nest, which was the highest point on the ship. Sam trusted Thomas, and as many times as he'd taken her up there, she didn't need to worry about it. Eduardo wouldn't be as thrilled having her up there, but Sam determined what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Thomas liked having company up there as much as Lily liked being up there, so Sam didn't see the harm in it.

Eduardo and the rest of the crew had gone into town earlier that morning to gather some supplies and to collect some reward money they were due from a recent treasure hunt they'd been on. As the island they had stopped in had such a small population, they'd had to anchor the ship out away from the port, as the Sirius was much too large. The boys had climbed into their rafts and had gone ashore on their own. Sam, Thomas, and Lily had stayed behind. Sam had wanted to finish doing some chores around the ship before everyone returned, and Thomas volunteered to stay with her and Lily.

Sam glanced up at Thomas talking to Lily as they sat up in Thomas's little nest up top and smiled. All of the boys on board had taken to her quite quickly, and it was easy to tell how much she loved each of them. Although not related by blood, she referred to all of them as her 'uncle', and refused to call them by any other name. As she'd grown, the boys seemed to love her more and more, almost as much as Eduardo and Sam did. Sam often felt sorry for Lily, not having anyone her age around to play with her. But whenever she did, she'd see her with one of the boys, and her mind went at ease. They loved indulging her. They'd even taken her out on a few missions with them, with the watchful eye of Eduardo nearby that is. She loved going on missions with them, and her sense of adventure never seemed sated, as she was always asking them when their next one would be.

The past few years had been a breeze for them. They'd spent most of their entire time out at sea, where all of them felt most at home. They would stop every now and again to port somewhere, for Lily to experience town life, but she too seemed to share her parents love for the sea. Something that came to no surprise to any of them. Sam would often find Lily sitting at the bow of the ship, enjoying the cool breeze as her mother often did. Sam and Eduardo took to parenthood quite easily. It had surprisingly come almost second nature to both of them. Eduardo had expressed concern to Sam, in the first few years of Lily's life, that he was afraid that he wouldn't be a good father, and that Lily would grow to dislike him, as he had grown to dislike his own father. But by all accounts, Lily showed no distaste for her father. She certainly was daddy's little girl, and basked in all of the love and attention her father would give her. Eduardo hadn't changed much around the crew, still stern and sarcastic with them, but around Lily and Sam he was just as kind and loving as Sam had always known him to be. She often tried to tease him about it, but he would typically just roll his eyes or change the subject. But she as she had predicted on the day Lily was born, he was wrapped firmly around that little girl's finger. And Sam was pretty sure that Lily already knew that.

Sam tucked the laundry basket underneath her arm and made her way downstairs. Going to each room, she sorted through the laundry and began placing everyone's things neatly on their beds. She made her way to the old supply room, which the crew had turned into a bedroom for Lily. She stepped over the strew of things scattering the floor, making her way towards her daughter's bed, making a mental note to have a talk with Lily later about cleaning her room. She placed the few garments of her daughter's on her bed, then trekked her way back through the havoc that Lily called her room. Shaking her head, she placed the laundry basket in its proper place, and then headed over to the crew's new supply closet. She'd already taken an inventory of the ship's supplies before the crew had left earlier that morning, but she'd been wanting to organize it for some time.

Rolling up her sleeves, she set out in her task, unloading shelves to clean off the surfaces before reorganizing everything. As she cleaned, her mind drifted to other things. She thought back on her conversation with Eduardo earlier that week, about them considering living on dry land for a while, for Lily's sake. She'd agreed with him that Lily needed a normal life, a normal upbringing. Somewhere where she could be around children her age, and go to school. Not that Sam had done a poor job of educating their daughter. Quite the contrary, Eduardo had stated several times how good of a job Sam had done in trying to educate their daughter. Sam knew that living on a pirate ship her whole life probably wouldn't be a good idea for Lily in the long run. But Lily loved living on the Sirius. Eduardo had even asked her on several occasions if she'd like to live somewhere else for a while. But each time she was asked, she'd been adamant about remaining on the Sirius. She loved it as much as they all did, and Sam knew that this was, and would always be, her home. But she couldn't deny Eduardo's logic in the situation. Even if it were just for a little while, it would probably be a good idea for them to stay on shore for more than just a week or two at a time.

Sam came out of her daze as she heard Thomas calling her name from above deck. The urgency in his voice caused her to drop the items she'd had in her hand, and run towards the stairs. Taking the stairs two at a time, she shielded her eyes from the sudden onslaught of light as she emerged on deck. She looked up at Thomas and Lily, who were still sitting up in their spot, but Thomas was pointing out in the distance. Sam followed where his hand pointed to, and saw a ship coming towards them. The ship looked awfully familiar, but Sam couldn't quite put her finger on it. But it was starting to get uncomfortably close to the Sirius. Sam looked back up at Thomas.

"Can you tell whose ship it is?" Sam called up to him.

"Not from here. I left my eyeglass down there on the deck, must've fallen out of my pocket. Use it to see if you can tell who it is. It's on the deck near Lily's dolls." Thomas shouted back down at her.

Sam walked quickly over to her daughter's dolls, lying on the floor, and easily spotted Thomas's eyeglass. Picking it up, she made her way to the side of the ship and brought it up to her eye. She adjusted the lens and focused in on the ship. She knew she'd seen the ship someplace before, but she couldn't place exactly where. She'd seen so many ships over the years, it could be anyone's ship. She narrowed in on some of the crew as they hustled about on the deck. Sam lowered the eyeglass to her side, having spotted the ship's captain ambling about the ship.

"It… It's the Rika…" She stammered.


	2. Chapter 2

"Keep Lily up there Thomas." Sam called up to Thomas as the Rika pulled up next to the Sirius.

"But Sam…" Thomas started.

"I mean it Thomas. You keep her up there and you keep your heads down." Sam said. Thomas nodded down to her and looked to whisper something to Lily. The two tucked their heads down in Thomas's post, watching as a makeshift board was placed between the two ships. Alan boarded the ship, smiling at Lily as he walked towards her. His hands were folded behind his back and he stopped in front of her. His crew watched from the Rika, ready to board the Sirius if they had to. Sam kept her distance back from Alan, out of arms reach of him as he stood smiling at her.

"My pearl. How are you?" Alan purred, keeping his hands tucked behind his back.

"I'd be doing a hell of a lot better if you left us alone."

Alan sucked at his teeth. "Come now pearl, I'm not here to quarrel."

"Then what the hell are you here for?" Sam seethed.

"Fear not pearl, for I'm not here to take you with me. As much as I want, I will not take you with me today. I'm here to speak to Morgan about a rather important notion."

"He's not here. Care to leave a message?"

Alan smiled brightly. "It's a rather important matter. I'll just wait."

"Wait for what Alan?" A voice boomed from behind Sam. She spun around to see the rest of the Sirius crew re-boarding from the other side of the ship, and Eduardo storming forward. He pulled his pistol from underneath his coat and loaded it. Before anyone could say a word, he was up in Alan's face, the barrel of the pistol pressed underneath his chin. Eduardo had… less than positive feelings towards Alan after his last attempt to kidnap Sam, and was not shy in showing it. He cocked the gun as he shoved him up against the side of the ship.

"I needed to speak to Morgan about something." Alan choked.

"Well then go ahead and talk," Eduardo growled, "a few bullet holes in your head won't prevent you from talking, I promise."

Morgan stepped forward from the Sirius crew. He slowly came forward towards Eduardo and Alan, his arms folded across his chest. He pushed Sam behind him as he stood in front of Alan. Eduardo, his eyes still full of fury, looked back at Morgan. Gently, Morgan placed a hand on Eduardo's shoulder. He shook his head, and with a curse, Eduardo lowered his pistol and stepped away. He un-cocked his pistol and shoved it back into its holster. Turning, he went behind Morgan and grabbed Sam, putting her behind his back as he continued to glare at Alan.

"Alright Alan, I'm here. What is it that you need to tell me?" Morgan asked, his tone sounding amused as he watched Alan try to compose himself.

Alan straightened himself. "You'd think I'd be treated with better respect around here, trying to help you all."

"What the hell could you ever help us with you snake?" Russell spat out nearby, venom lining his voice. None of the crew had a particular liking for the Captain of the Rika, and were also not afraid to say so.

Alan smiled, folding his arms behind his back again. "Morgan I came to warn you that I've received word that us pirates are once again under attack. A pirate ship from out west was recently burned down, people still on board. It was the first of several pirate ships to receive this treatment. As pirate king, I thought you'd want to know."

Morgan frowned, his brows knitted together. "What do you mean under attack? I thought we took care of this years ago?"

Alan shrugged. "Well apparently not. I believe you are acquainted with one of the fellows in charge of the attack."

"Who Daniel? He went to prison years ago." Nathan stated, stepping forward.

"Well yes, and he still is, or last I heard. He wasn't the only one with the same… beliefs… however. Apparently he now has some new commander who's resumed his work. But from what I've heard of him, he makes Daniel look like a bouquet of flowers." Sam and Eduardo exchanged quick looks with one another as the conversation continued.

Russell shook his head. "Leonardo would never approve of such activity for the navy."

"They're not associated with the navy this time, but they're also not pirate."

"A new group?" Christopher asked.

Alan shrugged again. "Perhaps. All I know is that they're targeting pirate ships. Well known pirate ships. So I came to warn you. They've already attacked the Rika once, but we were lucky enough to escape."

Morgan nodded. "T-Thank you Alan. I appreciate your warning. We will keep watch out for them."

Alan rocked on his feet and sucked on the back of his teeth. "Well, again, as pirate king I thought you should know."

Alan turned on his heels and made his way across the board between the two ships. He turned quickly and made a quick bow. "It was so nice to see you again my pearl." As Eduardo bore a hole in Alan's head with his gaze, Alan then turned and made his way back to the Rika without another word. The board between the two ships was quickly removed, and the Rika immediately set sail in the other direction.

Eduardo turned to Sam. "Are you alright?"

Sam nodded. "I'm fine."

"Where's Lily?" His tone worried as he quickly glanced around, not seeing his daughter. Sam smiled and pointed upward towards Thomas and Lily, who were watching intently from up above. She then quickly motioned for them that it was safe for them to come back down to the deck. Eduardo sighed in relief, and then pressed a quick kiss to Sam's forehead.

"Smart woman." He whispered as Thomas started to descend back to the deck with Lily in his grasp. Once on the ground, Lily ran over into her mother's waiting arms. Sam lifted the little girl up and hugged her to her chest, with Eduardo hugging both of them to him.

"What are we going to do Captain?" Russell asked quietly.

Morgan adjusted his hat. "Well, we're going to have to keep a firm watch out for now until we can come up with a better plan. Stay away from major ports, but never too far from land. So if they do get to us, we'll not be too far."

Lily peaked up from Sam's shoulder. "Can I help too Uncle Morgan?"

Morgan smiled, then walked over and ruffled the little girl's help. "But of course my dear. Who else is going to keep guard of the supply room downstairs for me?"

Lily beamed. "Aye-aye Captain!" Morgan looked up at Sam and winked before turning and heading towards his station. Sam silently thanked Morgan for that. The supply room was directly across from her and Eduardo's room, so they could still keep an eye on her while she 'guarded' the room.

Eduardo hugged the two into his chest as he placed his chin on top of Sam's head for a moment. Another Daniel? They'd had enough trouble with the first one, how were they going to handle another one? A worse one? Sam tilted her head up to look at Eduardo. He smiled gently and pressed a quick kiss against her lips before taking Lily from her arms. Lily threw her arms around her father's neck, and he wrapped one arm around her as he took Sam's hand, and led the two of them downstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Lily immediately went to her post of guarding the supply closet, and by all appearances, took her job very seriously. She barely cracked a smile as she stood firmly in front of the door, her arms planted firmly at her sides. A complete polar opposite to her usual bubbly, giggling personality. Eduardo and Sam watched her from around the corner, Eduardo leaning up against the door frame and Sam leaned up against him.

"What are we going to do?" Sam asked Eduardo quietly.

Eduardo shook his head. "I don't know. Right now there's not much we can do. Keep watch and stick close to the coast."

Sam sighed. "I can't believe this is all happening all over again."

"I know love." Eduardo said gently, leaning forward and kissing the scar on her shoulder, where she'd been shot.

"When do I take my shift?"

"Don't know yet. Probably after I take mine."

"What are we going to do about Lily?"

Eduardo sighed. "One of us will take her when the other is on watch I guess."

"I'll take the shift after the sun sets. Lily likes it when you tuck her in bed anyway. It'll be easier on her if you could still do that at least."

Lily caught her parents looking over at her, and waved brightly at them for a moment, as if happy to see them again. But upon realizing her important duty, she motioned for them to leave. When neither moved, she ran over to them and pushed them into their room. Sam giggled as Lily stomped her feet down, pushing the two forward into the bedroom. Eduardo smiled as he leaned against the wall of their room, looking down at the stubborn little girl who was folding her arms across her chest at them.

"I can't stand guard if you two are guarding _me_!" Lily complained, closing the door behind them. Sam laughed as she went and opened the door back up, just enough to peer outside to see Lily going back to stand in front of the door.

Eduardo chuckled. "Kid reminds me of you every day."

"Me? With that attitude? No she definitely takes after you."

"And what makes you say that?"

Sam smirked. "She's only six and she's just about as sarcastic as you are. She definitely didn't learn that one from me."

"Didn't learn that from you huh?" Eduardo asked chuckling, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Nope. Definitely all you. She even looks a lot like you now."

Sam heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Eduardo walking towards her. His gaze teased hers as he slowly came up to her. He pressed Sam up against the wall, his face hovering over hers. Her breath hitched as Eduardo pressed a tender kiss against her throat, and then another at that one spot on her neck that he knew would make her melt. She wasn't sure whether she loved it when he did that, or hated it. She loved it because it always made her melt into him. But she hated it because he sometimes used it to her disadvantage, often using it when they were fighting because he knew it would instantly stop her. He then traced his way up her neck and nibbled gently on her earlobe, accentuating it with a kiss.

He then looked up into her eyes, his own eyes gleaming. "You, my pet, are just as sarcastic as I am. So she did not learn it from _just_ me."

When she playfully slapped at his arm, Eduardo chuckled again, and went to peer out the door with Sam. Lily started rubbing her eyes sleepily, as it was starting to get close to her bed time. The two walked out of their bedroom and over to Lily, who smiled sleepily up at them. Eduardo gathered her in his arms, and the three of them went into Lily's bedroom. They managed to navigate their way through the mess, which Sam had forgotten to talk to Lily about earlier, given all of the commotion. Eduardo spared her the lecture, and gently instructed his daughter to clean her room after she woke in the morning. Lily yawned and nodded as Eduardo tucked her into bed. The two kissed her forehead and turned her light off, briefly standing in the doorway as Lily scooted down further into her bed.

Eduardo closed the door quietly, and he wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders as they walked into their own bedroom. Sam went over and began dressing for bed, changing into her nightgown. Eduardo went about getting ready as well, and yanked his shirt over his head and tossing his shirt into the corner of the room. Sam sighed as she watched him sit on the bed to tug his boots off his feet. She'd never tire of seeing this man without a shirt. That much would never change. He glanced over his shoulder to catch her leering at him, and smirked at her. She quickly turned around and grabbed her hair brush, stroking her hair with it. An arm snaked around her middle, and she squealed as he yanked her down onto the bed, pinning her underneath him.

Using one hand, he reached down and tickled her in his most ticklish spot, just at her ribs, and she giggled. Pushing him away, she grabbed the switch for the lamp, and yanked at it. The room quickly flooded with darkness, and Eduardo pulled Sam into him, as he did every night. He threw an arm over her middle and found her hand with his, lacing their fingers together.

"Everything's going to be alright." Sam said quietly, as they settled down.

"I know. As long as I can keep you and Lily safe, that's all that matters to me."

Sam laughed quietly. "What about the other guys? I think they'd be a little offended that they're not your top priorities either."

"They can take care of themselves. They're big boys." Eduardo said, his voice teasing.

"What… what are we going to do if we do run into this other group?"

"We defend the Sirius of course. But first priority is you and Lily. If anything happens to the ship, I at least need to know that the both of you are safe. So no dangerous stuff, deal?"

"You mind being more specific with that? Like do I have to solely sit still with my hands folded or are we talking about just avoiding walking a tight rope over a pit of wolves?"

Eduardo groaned, but chuckled. "And you say that she just gets it from me. Ha!"

"Well you weren't very specific in your 'no dangerous stuff'."

"You know what I mean Sam, just don't do anything dangerous." Eduardo replied, his tone more firm as he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Well shit, where's the fun in that?" She joked.

Eduardo sighed. "I'm serious Sam."

Sam laughed. "Well fine, that goes for you too then you know. No dangerous stuff. Deal?"

"Deal." Eduardo whispered, hugging Sam closer to his body as they both drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Well what are we going to do about all of this? Just sitting here like ducks on a pond isn't going to help." Eduardo stated, leaning back against his chair. It had been a few days since the group had started rotating shifts, keeping watch out for any ships coming up on them. Sam had long tucked Lily into bed, and the group had assembled in the dining hall to talk.

Morgan shook his head. "I know. But what more is there for us to do? They know we're out here. I'd hate to think of what would happen if we tried to dock somewhere, if they're as intent as I've heard, they'd tear the place to shreds."

"Well we're not too far away from one of the abandoned navy island. Maybe we could head over there to port? That way we'd be on land if they did attack us." Thomas suggested.

"Abandoned navy island?" Sam asked.

Eduardo nodded. "Actually not a bad idea. A couple years ago the navy had an island out a couple miles out past Moldor. They used it for naval training and that kind of thing, but funding ran short, so they had to abandon the base. It's not a very large island, only a mile or two big."

"I agree, it sounds like a pretty decent plan actually," Morgan chimed in, "Eduardo, you know where it is?"

Eduardo nodded, already making his way towards the wheel. "Yeah I do. I'll set our course out there now. We actually shouldn't be but a mile out from Moldor, so it's bound to be nearby." Eduardo exited the dining hall, leaving the rest of the group to continue to discuss their plans.

"Well since the Sirius is quite well known around, it's only a matter of time before they show up. It'll probably do us some good to come up with some booby traps to place around the island so when they do show up, we'll have them." Nathan said from his corner of the room.

"Like what? You think we could dig some pits or something around there?" Russell asked.

"Probably. Most of the island is just sand, it'd be perfect for digging up some pits."

"Well what besides pits could we do?" Sam asked.

Russell leaned forward, patting her on the back, smiling. "Don't worry about that one Sam. The guys and I will take care of that. We'll give 'em something good to remember us by. You just need to worry about keeping Lily safe."

"Well obviously," Sam stated, "but where are she and I going to go? Are there buildings there for us to set up camp?"

Thomas nodded. "The naval office should still be there. Two story building, concrete. Should do you two some good."

"What about weapons? What kind of weapons do we have?"

"Well we have the cannon, but if we're going to be on land it's not gonna do us much good being here on the Sirius, so that's out. We still have the rifles we got from our last hunt, they're all in pretty good condition still. A good amount of ammunition for them too. Then of course we still have your pistol along with Eduardo's, and ammunition to go along with those. Besides that, we have our own individual weapons, plus three extra swords that we got a while back."

Sam laughed. "That all?"

Eduardo walked back into the dining room. "As I thought, we're actually not but a few miles from the old naval base, so we should be there within the next few minutes or so."

Morgan stood. "Alright, well when we get there, Eduardo, you lower the anchor and we'll dock the ship. Then Russell, Nathan, and Thomas will load up the life raft with the weapons, and take it to shore. Take them to the old naval office for safe keeping. That way we'll have them there when we need them. Then we will all go ashore together and set up camp."

Everyone quickly stood up and began filing out of the dining hall, heading to their stations. Sam and Eduardo remained behind briefly. Eduardo looked over at Sam, his expression worried, and Sam understood why. After their last encounter with these pirate hunters, she'd ended up getting herself shot. She hated that he worried, but she appreciated his concern. They had bigger problems to worry about now, having Lily with them now. She smiled at him the best she could. He then walked over and snaked an arm around Sam's shoulder, leading both of them out of the dining hall and up the stairs to the deck. It was still night, and the stars glimmered in the moonlight.

Eduardo kissed the top of her head, and returned to the wheel to steer them. Sam walked over to the side of the ship and leaned over, seeing the tiny island just up ahead. She went about helping the rest of the crew with their upcoming arrival. She decided to allow Lily to sleep for a little while longer before she went to wake her, knowing how tired she would be if she woke her now. She heard the anchor drop, crashing down into the waves below. The ship slowed to a stop, and the boys went into the ammunition room and began grabbing their weapons.

Sam helped carry the weapons they had out to the life raft, plopping them down into the bottom. There were fewer weapons than she'd expected, but they would have to do. As good of a shot as she knew all of them were, with both a gun and a sword, she didn't worry about the weapons. She wanted to help them more when the inevitable attack came, but she knew that her place would be to defend Lily. These men weren't going to go easy on them, and Sam knew that. Even if Lily was just a child, they wouldn't hesitate to attack her if they had the chance. And by heavens she wasn't going to let anyone harm a hair on her child's head.

Sam had noticed that the ship was arranged in a funny position next to the island. It was positioned where it faced away from the island, and towards the open waters. Eduardo quickly explained to her that it was a precaution of his so that any on coming ships would think that they were still sailing on the ship. Just as an extra safety measure to help them fend off any oncoming attacks.

Thomas volunteered to be the one to row to shore with the weapons ahead of everyone else, so he could run them up to the naval office before the rest of them arrived. Sam and Nathan ran into the kitchen together and began gathering food and some other supplies for their stay. Nathan tossed her a large sack and instructed her to fill it to capacity with food, and that he would do the same. Sam began shoving as many cans and other food items as she could into the bag, until she feared it would give under the pressured. Hauling it back to the deck, she quickly gave it to Thomas as they were lowering him and the raft into the water, so that he would also have a supply of their food with him to take to the base.

Sam watched as Thomas began to slowly row to shore, and the rest of the crew continued to hustle and bustle on deck. Wiping some of the sweat that had accumulated on her forehead, she sighed. She knew they had to rush about tonight so they could get ashore as soon as possible. As it was night time, they were extremely vulnerable to attack. Visibility was lowered, so it would be optimum time for another ship to attack them. Sam ran down the stairs and packed a few of her and Eduardo's into a bag, and then a separate small bag for Lily. Throwing whatever she thought that they would need into the bag, she then flew back up the stairs onto the deck. She tossed their bags onto the growing pile of small bags the other guys had left for themselves.

Sam helped Eduardo and Nathan load the bags onto another of the life rafts. Christopher agreed to be the next one to row to shore, so as he could set up some of the medical supplies he wanted to take with them to shore. He was then quickly lowered down into the calm ocean waters, and rowed away just as quickly. Sam ran up to join Eduardo in front of the office door, where he had been with Morgan.

"That's the last of it. Next raft will be for us." Morgan said.

"Will the raft hold all of us?" Sam asked, slightly concerned as there were still six of them left on the ship.

Eduardo nodded. "Yeah, we left the larger of the rafts here for us to take in. It'll hold us just fine."

As Morgan and Eduardo continued to quickly discuss more plans, Sam began to sniff the air. She had smelled something a few minutes ago, but it was now much stronger than before. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it was now getting to be pretty noticeable. She broke away from the other two men as they conversed, and headed towards the front of the ship, where she felt the smell was coming from.

As she made it to the very front of the ship, she could see smoke drifting up from down below. She ran forward and leaned over the front, looking down where the smoke was coming from. Looking down in horror, she could see fire coming up from a spot just below the front mast of the ship. She was about to shout up the warning to the rest of the crew, but felt something that pulled her attention firmly away. A quick brush of wind brushed her, as something whizzed past her head. She jumped and looked behind her, where an arrow was lodged firmly into the wooden wall behind her. Her eyes widened as she saw that the arrow had been lit on fire, and was now spreading from where it had landed.

"Fire!" She screamed as she ran back towards the deck.


	5. Chapter 5

"Fire!" Sam screamed again, as she rounded the corner towards the deck.

Smoke billowed all around her, and Sam covered her nose with her sleeve, carefully making her way across the deck. Another wave of arrows flew onto the ship, engulfing most of the deck in flames. The fire danced all around her as she tried to find the rest of the guys. She could barely see a thing, and had to squint to see just in front of her. She finally made her way towards where the last raft was, knowing that they would likely be nearby. Up ahead, she could make out a few figures standing near the raft. As she got closer, she saw Nathan, Morgan, and Russell.

"Where's Eduardo?" She asked.

"Went to grab the last of the supplies I think." Nathan replied, trying to stomp out some of the flames coming towards the raft. The rest of the group fought to try to put the flames out. It proved to be a useless effort, as the fire was too far progressed for them to put it out.

Everything had happened so fast, that as she looked across the deck, a sudden, terrifying realization dawned on her. She realized that her baby was still downstairs fast asleep, unaware of what was going on, on the deck. That knowledge stopped her cold, and nothing else mattered to her at that point. She charged forward, towards the staircase leading downstairs. With her sleeve held up in front of her face, she made her way through the fire, dodging flames as she stepped across the deck.

Unable to see very far in front of her, she heard as Russell and Nathan called after her, trying to get her to come back. She wasn't leaving without Lily or Eduardo, and Lily was in trouble. She was probably still sleeping peacefully down below, and the fire would soon reach her. If Sam didn't get to her soon, it would likely be too late. She heard Russell behind her, coming after her, but she wasn't slowing down. But as soon as she stepped over another patch of flames, another round of arrows came flying onto the deck. Sam screamed in pain as one of the arrows came down, tearing right into the arm she held in front of her. The arrow had pierced her arm, just above her elbow. She quickly reached around with her other hand, and yanked the arrow out, shouting in pain as she did.

Russell caught up with her, and grabbed her arm. "Are you alright?"

Sam winced. "Yeah yeah I'm fine."

"Sam your arm is bleeding pretty badly." He said.

"Lily's still downstairs I have to get to her!" Sam exclaimed, fighting against Russell's grip.

Sam looked over some of the flames to see Eduardo's head appear across the deck, smoke billowing up in front of him. He appeared to be unharmed, and Sam sighed briefly in relief. As Sam looked at the fire, she realized that the fire had spread so far as to separate her and Russell from getting anywhere near the staircase. But Eduardo appeared to be close to the stairs.

"Eduardo! Lily's still downstairs!" She screamed over to him.

Eduardo's eyes widened and he dropped the supplies he'd had in his arms. "Get in the raft with the others, I'll get Lily and meet up with you."

"I'm not leaving without you two!" Sam hollered.

Eduardo smiled sadly at her. "Don't have a choice love. Get in the raft. Now." He winked at her before disappearing below deck. Sam lurched forward towards him, but Russell grabbed her and pulled her back. She fought against his grip as he pulled her into the raft. She held her injured arm, but continued to struggle against him.

"Let me go! My baby's still on board!" She screamed at him, fighting him as Nathan came over to help restrain her.

"Lower the raft!" Nathan shouted over to Morgan.

"No! What are you doing?!" Sam shouted.

"We can't stay near the ship or we'll all burn as well."

"But they're still on board!"

"Eduardo's a smart man, he'll know how to get the both of them down here on the raft. There's a rope ladder he can attach, if it hasn't burned yet, to the side of the ship. They can make their way down that way. We'll stay close by." Russell stated calmly, trying to soothe Sam. Morgan and Nathan slowly lowered the raft into the water, as Sam sat back watching the flames engulf the Sirius. Fear and dread surrounded her as she waited for her husband and daughter to emerge.

Once in the water, Nathan and Morgan rowed them towards the middle of the ship, close enough for them to touch it. The group looked up at the burning deck, watching in dismay as their ship burned to pieces right in front of them. Sam looked around, but wasn't able to see any other ships nearby. Where had the arrows come from if there wasn't a ship nearby? Sam held back a sob as she waited, biting her lip nervously as the raft bobbed up and down from the waves.

Suddenly, Sam could see Lily's head emerge from the flames, peering over the side of the ship down at them. "Mommy!"

"Lily!" Sam screamed up at her.

"Daddy told me to jump!" The little girl called down to them.

Morgan stood up, holding his arms out. "Alright sweetie, I'll catch you. Don't be afraid." Lily pulled herself up onto the side of the ship, holding her arms out to balance her as she looked down fearfully.

"Come on baby you can do it!" Sam called up to her, Russell continuing to hold her back.

Lily looked to take a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Sam held her breath as her daughter crouched down, getting ready to jump. She leapt out, pushing herself from the ship gracefully, as if she were merely diving into the ocean. She screamed all the way down, and fell right into Morgan's waiting arms. Russell released his hold on Sam, as she tore forward towards her daughter. Morgan gently handed Lily to her, and she cradled her daughter to her chest. She kissed her face all over in joy as she held her child to her.

"Mommy what happened to your arm?" Lily asked, gently touching Sam's injured arm.

Sam winced quietly and continued to hug her daughter to her. "Nothing sweetie, don't worry about it."

"Where's your daddy?" Nathan asked, still looking up towards the deck.

Tears flowed from Lily's eyes as she looked up from her mother's chest at him. "He came down to get me, and was carrying me across the deck. His foot got stuck in a hole made by the fire. He put me down and told me to jump down to the raft, he said that he'd come down after I did."

Sam's eyes widened as she looked up at the ship, the flames spilling out off the deck and onto the rest of the ship. "Eduardo…" She whispered as her daughter hugged her tightly. She cradled Lily to her, continuing to watch the deck for Eduardo.


	6. Chapter 6

The group continued to watch anxiously, waiting for Eduardo to emerge from the flames. Sam held Lily firmly to her, happy that her daughter was safe. But as she looked up towards the deck, she was terrified, hoping that she'd see Eduardo appear at any moment. Lily had said that his foot had gotten caught in some sort of hole, would he be able to free himself? Would he be alright?

"He needs to get out of there really soon. Or the flames will get to the cannon." Russell said quietly, watching the ship. Sam bit her lip nervously, realizing that on top of the flames, Eduardo would now have to worry about the cannon blowing up. She squeezed her daughter tightly in her arms, trying desperately to hold back a sob.

Nathan slapped Russell across the back of his head firmly. "Shut up Russell." A few long silent moments passed, as the raft continued to drift in the waves.

"I want to know where the hell those arrows came from." Russell muttered angrily.

"I haven't seen any ships nearby." Nathan replied quietly.

Morgan shook his head. "They wouldn't need any ships nearby. If it's who I think it is, they probably have someone somewhere close by, on a raft of their own. They'd have to be fairly close range to get those arrows up onto the deck."

"Does that mean that they're alone?"

"Not necessarily. They were probably out here scouting for us when they saw us. It means that the rest of their crew won't be far behind. We'll need to get to the naval base quickly to start setting up if we're going to have any prayer of winning." Morgan replied.

"I shouldn't have left daddy." Lily sobbed quietly into her mother's chest.

Sam shook her head and lifted her daughters head. "No sweetheart, you did exactly what you were supposed to. It's ok. You were very brave for daddy." Sam stroked her daughters back reassuringly, trying to soothe her.

Nathan jumped up, pointing towards the deck. "There he is!"

Sam instantly looked to where Nathan pointed, finally seeing Eduardo on the deck. Lily looked up from her mother's chest, watching her father just as anxiously as the rest of the group. Sam breathed an enormous sigh of relief as she continued to watch her husband. He bounded across the ship, jumping over patches of fire. Running towards the side of the ship, he took a running leap towards the side. He jumped off the side of the ship, and dove down into the ocean waters. Morgan and Nathan instantly began paddling the raft over to where Eduardo had dove. Sam scanned the water, and saw where her husband's head broke the surface.

The raft pulled up alongside him, and Morgan and Nathan reached into the waters, pulling Eduardo inside. Sam and Lily jumped forward, wrapping their arms around Eduardo as he steadied himself. Eduardo held both of them closely to his wet form, water dripping from his body onto the raft. Lily sobbed into his side as she held him tightly, and Sam held him just as tightly, feeling her body shake slightly from the relief. She reached forward, pulling his face down to kiss his lips. She then pulled back and firmly punched him in his arm.

"Ow! The hell was that for?" Eduardo cried out, looking confused at her as he continued to hold Lily with his other arm.

"That's for scaring me like that." Sam declared. Eduardo smirked at her and winked, then winced as he sat down, grabbing at his foot. Sam bent forward to inspect where his hand rested, to see that his ankle was plenty well bloodied up.

"You're hurt." She said simply, propping it up to look at it better.

Eduardo shrugged. "It looks worse than it really is. Just scratched it up a bit that's all. Got it stuck in some wood and I…" Eduardo stopped as his eyes narrowed in on the drying blood on Sam's arm, the one she'd positioned away from him so he wouldn't see. He bent forward and grabbed her arm, looking down at her injured flesh.

Sam bit her lip as he thumbed over her wound, smiling weakly at him. "Looks worse than it really is."

"What happened?" He asked firmly.

"Arrow hit me." She replied as the raft hit the sandy shores. Nathan and Russell jumped from the raft and pulled it fully onto the sand. The beach was quiet, but further down Sam could see where Thomas and Christopher had pulled their rafts ashore.

Morgan turned and looked at Sam. "I'll take Lily to the base, you help Eduardo. He'll likely be limping a bit from his ankle."

"Limping my ass, I'm fine." Eduardo snapped.

"Well just in case stubborn ass." Morgan replied.

Sam nodded and turned to her daughter, holding her head in her hands. "You go with Uncle Morgan ok sweetie?"

"Where are we going?" Lily asked, having calmed down considerably from earlier.

"Somewhere safe baby. Now you behave for your uncle, and your daddy and I will be right behind you. Ok?"

Lily nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Sam kissed her daughter's forehead. "Good girl."

Morgan walked over and lifted Lily up, carrying her, and stepped down off the raft. He and Russell then ran into the darkness towards the base. Sam watched as the three disappeared, and then went to help Eduardo off the raft. His limp wasn't as bad as Morgan had predicted it to be, but it did slow Eduardo down a bit. Sam, Eduardo, and Nathan quickly made their way after the other three, heading into the forest with Eduardo leaning slightly against Sam.

"So…You get shot with an arrow," Nathan said as they hustled, "and it's 'not as bad as it looks'?"

Sam shrugged. "Eduardo said the same about his ankle."

"That's because I wasn't shot with a bloody arrow." Eduardo replied angrily.

Sam nibbled on her lip then looked up at Eduardo. "What are we going to do?"

Eduardo looked down at her. "I don't know love, but by god I'm gonna make them regret the day they were born for threatening, and now hurting, my family."


	7. Chapter 7

Eduardo, Nathan, and Sam made it to the base shortly after the others. Lily ran into her parents arms, as they took a moment to be happy that all of them were alright. Well, mostly alright. Christopher had taken a look at Sam's arm and had bandaged it up, said that it wasn't deep enough to require stitches, and only needed some time to heal. He'd also bandaged up Eduardo's ankle while he was at it. But other than that they were alright, and Sam was thankful for that.

Eduardo looked over at Nathan. "You gonna set up those traps?"

"You bet your bottom dollar." Russell replied, leaning against the door frame of the compound.

"Good. Need any help?"

Nathan shook his head. "Not this time. Russell and I have… a particular gift… for trap setting, as you quite well remember. So we got this."

Morgan nodded at the two. "Do your thing."

Sam looked up at Eduardo as Nathan and Russell disappeared from the compound. "A gift?"

Eduardo chuckled. "Back before I ever met you, we all had gone out on a mission, and those two were in charge of setting up some of the traps for the enemy. Let's just say that they're really good at it."

Lily walked over and wrapped her arms around Eduardo's waist. "I'm sorry daddy."

Eduardo stooped down and looked his daughter in the eyes. "Now what do you have to be sorry about?"

"I left you. I shouldn't have left you on the ship." The little girl said quietly, looking down at the ground.

Eduardo tilted Lily's face up to look at him again. "I told you to honey. You did exactly what I told you to, and you were very brave in doing it. I'm proud of you." He then pulled Lily into a hug, and let the little girl cuddle into his chest as he sat down next to Sam.

The rest of the guys kept a watch out as the three of them took their break. Christopher had specifically instructed Sam not to take her watch for another couple of hours for her arm to start healing properly, and had told Eduardo that he needed to keep his weight off his ankle for at least an hour to let his wounds heal as well. Sam scooted into Eduardo and wrapped her arm around her daughter as they both snuggled into Eduardo. After all the excitement, Sam had been afraid that Lily wouldn't fall back asleep and would stay up all night with them and would then be tired all the next day. But she was pleasantly surprised when it only took about thirty minutes before she saw Lily's eyes close, and she fell back asleep.

Sam tilted her head to look up at Eduardo. "How's your ankle feeling?"

"It's fine. Don't know why Christopher had to fuss over it. How's your arm?"

"Good. Doesn't hurt as much."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help prevent it." Eduardo whispered.

Sam shoved him gently. "The hell are you talking about 'preventing' it? You saved our daughter's life. There's nothing to be sorry about."

"Well I know the only ones who'll be sorry are those bastards coming after us, when I get my hands on them."

Sam smiled. "You and me both. I just don't know how we're all going to get out of this one this time. I mean, we're surrounded, and will likely be outnumbered."

"We will get out of this. I can promise you that. And when we do, I'm taking you and Lily on a nice long vacation." Eduardo replied, smirking down at her.

"I'm serious Eduardo."

"So am I. We _will _get out of this. Nathan and Russell will set up their traps around the base, which should knock out a good number of them, knowing those two. And we have enough weapons here to fight off anyone else that makes it through. We'll be ok."

Sam sighed. "I hope you're right."

"When am I not?" Eduardo asked, his tone cocky as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"But what will happen if enough of them _do_ make it past their traps. I don't doubt their ability, but what will we do if that happens?"

"If there are enough of them, us guys will go out and defend the base, and you'll take care of Lily."

"I want to help too."

Eduardo smiled, wrapping his free arm around her shoulder and hugging her to him. "I know you do love, but I want the two of you safe and out of harm's way. From the things I've heard about these guys, they won't hesitate to kill Lily just because she's a child, and they certainly wouldn't have a qualm about killing you just because you're a woman. These guys are out for blood. Why they've made us their personal vendetta, I'll never know. But the fact is that they will kill you two without a second thought. I couldn't live with myself if that were to happen. So you'll stay here with Lily while us guys go out and defend the base. Understood?"

Sam hesitated for a moment before nodding solemnly. "Alright. But I'll at least have a weapon here for us, just in case they do make it here, right?"

"Of course, you'll have your pistol, and I'll even leave mine here for you just in case. Now get some sleep, your turn to watch will be coming up pretty soon, and you're going to need all the energy you can get."

Sam sat forward and pressed a kiss to Eduardo's lips, delving in their warmth as she sighed against him. His lips curled into a smile against hers, and she finally pulled back. Adjusting her position, she leaned against Eduardo, and placed her head on his shoulder. She hadn't realized how tired she'd actually been until just then, and nestled against Eduardo's warm body. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep almost instantly.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Sam leaned against one of the walls on the outside of the naval office. She had her pistol tucked into her holster at her hip, and sighed as the morning breeze hit her face. She'd been up doing her watch for the past few hours, and was now enjoying seeing the sun as it began to rise. That was one of the things she loved about the ocean, the sun rise and sun set always looked stunning across the water. But now, as she looked through a hoard of trees towards the beach, she appreciated the beauty of the sunrise.

Lily was still sleeping peacefully, or at least that was what Eduardo had told her when he went out on his watch. Sam worried about her daughter being in this kind of a situation she knew that she had to be frightened about all of this. She hadn't really sat her down and talked to her about all of this as she should have. She'd thought that the less that Lily knew, the better off she would be. But she knew that she'd eventually have to tell her a little more about what was going on. But what would she tell her? That a group of pirate hunters were tracking them down to kill all of them? How could you even possibly think of telling a child that? Sam decided to just settle with telling her that bad people were out to hurt them, that would satisfy her daughter's curiosity, wouldn't it?

She and Eduardo had further discussed during the night what they would do if the other group did make it this far inland. The guys would defend the base, and the area surrounding it, and Sam would protect Lily inside. She had weapons there that she could use, and being pretty good with a pistol now, almost as good as Eduardo, she knew she had enough. But Eduardo had told her that if anything were to happen and they were to get in, and she ran out of weapons, to run. To grab Lily, and run as far away as possible, and that he would find them. Sam had initially rolled her eyes at his proposal of this, stating that she wasn't going to abandon everyone else. But with Eduardo's persuasion, she agreed. After all, she needed to keep Lily safe at all costs.

Nathan and Russell returned in the wee hours of the morning, their traps set and ready to go. Russell had told her, as the two went into the office to get the rest of the guys, that he had seen a ship pulling up not too far from shore. He said he'd seen some of the ships rafts heading towards shore, and that they would be arriving on the beach at any moment. Sam swallowed hard and sighed as Russell disappeared into the office. The battle was going to happen, and Sam hoped that they were ready for it.

With a quick kiss, Eduardo and the rest of the crew ran off to their decided upon positions to defend the base. Sam returned to the office and closed the door, locking it tightly behind her, as per the guy's instructions. Lily was just beginning to wake up when Sam walked into the room where Eduardo had laid down some blankets for Lily to sleep on. The little girl rubbed her eyes sleepily and smiled up at her mother. Sam sat down next to her and pulled her into her arms, giving her a quick embrace before sitting her down on the chair in front of her, crouching down so that she and the little girl were eye to eye.

"How are you doing this morning honey?" Sam asked.

Lily yawned. "I'm alright mommy. Where's daddy?"

"He went with the other guys to guard the area."

"What does that mean?"

Sam tucked a lock of hair behind Lily's ear. "Listen baby, and listen good ok? Now, I'm going to tell you this, and I want you to pay really close attention to what I say, alright honey? I don't want you to be afraid, but I need you to remember what I say, ok?"

Lily nodded. "Yes mommy."

"There are some bad people out there that want to hurt us pumpkin, and they're trying to come here now in order to do that. Daddy and the other guys are out there right now to make sure they can't get here to hurt you. Now, what I need you to do for me, is that whenever I tell you to do something, you're going to do it for me. No questions asked, can you do that for me sweetie?"

Lily nodded again. "Yes ma'am."

"Promise me?"

"Promise."

Sam smiled and pressed a kiss to her daughters forehead. "Good." She stood up and walked over to the office desk, a few feet away. She rustled through the drawers, and grabbed a few scrap pieces of paper, and a pen. Then returning back, she kneeled down and handed the materials over to her daughter.

"For now why don't you sit over there and draw something, can you do that for me honey?"

Lily beamed. "I'll draw something really pretty for you and daddy!"

Sam ruffled her daughter's hair. "That's my girl."

Lily bounced from her chair and ran over to the bench, sprawling out so that she could work on her newest masterpiece. Sam knew that her daughter loved drawing and coloring, so it would be something to keep her busy for the time being while Sam watched outside for the boys. As Lily began scribbling on the scrap paper, Sam went over and began checking the weapons she was left with.

Eduardo had left her his pistol, and hers, along with some ammunition for both of them. There wasn't much ammunition, as they hadn't picked up any in recent trips to the nearby port cities. But there was enough for each pistol to be fully loaded. Sam carefully loaded each pistol with the bullets, taking special care of Eduardo's gun. He'd be seriously pissed later after all of this blew over, if anything were to happen to his gun, and Sam would rather avoid that. Sam smiled as she uncovered her gun holster, which was hiding underneath some of the ammunition. She was glad to have it, to have the guns ready if anything were to happen. Tying it around her waist, she placed both pistols into their appropriate slots, and walked over to the window.

Time seemed to drag along as she walked from window to window in the office, keeping an eye out. Sam wondered how the ship looked, if it was still there at all. They hadn't really had time to discuss the Sirius and whether it was completely gone or not. She knew it was likely that it was gone, completely burned, but she held out some hope that at least some of it was still alright. It had become her home, just as much as everyone else's, and she also knew that it was the only home Lily had really ever known. She didn't know how Lily would take it if the only home she'd ever known was gone. She didn't want to think about it.

Sam began to worry as she saw the sun beginning to set. Glancing back at the clock, she marveled at how the time had really passed as her mind had wandered to other things. Lily had drawn a few drawings for her and Eduardo, and after Sam had found more paper for Lily, she'd even drawn some for the guys as well. Sam leaned out the window slightly, looking for the guys. Eduardo had told her that they would be back at around sunset to recuperate, but she couldn't see them. Sighing, she went over to her daughter, who was continuing to draw, now beginning to look a tad bit bored with the activity.

Sam fed Lily some of the food Nathan had left out for them. Lily, like everyone else on the Sirius, loved Nathan's cooking. Nathan had left out Lily's favorite kind of sandwich, which she gobbled up in no time flat. Sam even found a few cookies Nathan had packed away, and gave them to Lily. As she watched her daughter munch the cookies down, Sam couldn't help but giggle at the sight. Anyone could definitely tell that Lily had grown up around men, with her table manners. While Sam had desperately attempted to teach her some proper dinner table manners, it had seemed that all those little etiquette lessons had gone in one ear and out the other. Lily giggled when she saw her mother looking down at her, shrugging her shoulders.

As Lily went into the bathroom to clean herself up, Sam walked back over to the window. She breathed a quick sigh of relief as, in the distance; she could see a few figures running towards the base. As they were in the direct sunlight, she squinted to see. But as they neared, Sam realized that they weren't the Sirius crew. Lily came out of the bathroom, humming to herself, and Sam ran to her, pulling her down to the ground quickly.

"I need you to stay down and cover your ears for me. Can you do that for mommy?" Sam whispered.

Alarm crept onto Lily's face, but she nodded to her mother and quickly covered her ears. Her little arms trembled slightly as Sam backed her up against the wall. She desperately wanted to comfort her daughter, but she had to take care of the people coming towards the base first. Going back to the window, Sam leaned forward and pulled one of the pistol's from her holster, watching as the group of men got closer and closer to the base. She briefly wondered where Eduardo and the rest of the guys were, but as the men got close enough, Sam opened fire.

The men ducked for cover as Sam shot at them. They crept up towards the base, trying to keep hidden from the barrage of shots coming from Sam's pistol. Two men went down as Sam shot at them, but the rest crept for cover once again. Sam fired another shot, and another man fell to the ground as they dove behind a bush. Answering shots fired, and Sam ducked as bullets flew over her head. She glanced over at Lily, who was tucked firmly into the corner, her arms covering her head and ears, as her mother had instructed her.

As the firing slowed, Sam reappeared and shot another few shots their way, cursing as her pistol clicked. She ducked down and tossed the gun away, as it was now out of ammunition. She only had Eduardo's pistol remaining, and she hoped that it would be enough. She cocked the pistol and returned to the window. The group had changed positions, and Sam screamed as bullets flew at her from a different direction. She threw herself to the ground and waited for the group to reload. The moment came seconds later, and she jumped up, shooting towards the groups new position. A scream came from their direction, and Sam knew she'd hit another one of them. She was unsure of how many were left, as they were pretty well concealed in their new position.

They were uncomfortably close to the base, and Sam ducked, moving further down to another window, to get a better position. She popped up from her new position and began shooting at them again, seeing that there were still about four of them left. Another man screamed in pain as he fell, Sam's bullet hitting him. The group scattered about, making it much harder for Sam to keep up with them. She fired a few more shots, hitting one more as she lost sight of the other two.

White hot fear settled in her stomach as she realized she was now completely out of ammunition, and there were still at least two more of the men left. It would be only a matter of minutes before they made their way into the small naval office, and she would be damned if they got a hold of Lily. She crawled across the ground, avoiding the debris caused from the other group's bullets as she made her way to Lily. A few tears had trickled down her daughters face, and she grabbed Lily, continuing to keep their heads down.

"Mommy what's going on?" Lily asked quietly, trying to hold in her tears.

Sam pulled on the best smile she could muster for her daughter, thinking quickly so as not to further frighten her daughter. "We're… uh… we're going to play a game! Yeah that's it! We're going to play a game!"

"What… what kind of game?"

"Hide and seek! You love playing hide and seek!" Sam replied, looking around the room.

Lily smiled weakly at her mother. "Hide and seek?"

"Yeah! And here are the rules for this game, and listen carefully now or you won't win, ok?"

"Ok mommy."

Sam pulled her daughter over to the office closet, which was still full of office supplies. Continuing to keep their heads down, she pulled her daughter into the closet and sat her down behind a stack of paper. Sam grabbed more piles of paper and stacked them all around her daughter, creating a kind fort for her. Quickly going back for the blanket that Lily had slept on the night before, she went back to her daughter.

"You're going to put this over your head, and you're going to stay right here. You can't move from here, and under no circumstances are you to make any kind of noise. The only times you can come out of here is if you hear me, your daddy, or one of the other guys say you can come out. You understand me?" Sam instructed gently, tucking another strand of hair behind Lily's ear.

Lily nodded slowly, biting her lip as Sam quickly pressed a fierce kiss on her daughter's forehead. She gently prodded her daughter to lie down on the floor, and placed the blanket over her, draping the fabric over the stacks of paper. There was a nearby shelf in the closet that was pressed up against the side. It was quite large, and stood to the top of the closet itself. Sam grabbed the other blanket she'd found, and using some of the heavier materials, hung the blanket to the back of the shelf. She then pulled the shelf forward so that it stood directly in front of the door. By all appearances, if someone were to open the door, the way the dark blanket masked what was behind it, the shelf appeared to be the only thing in the closet.

"I love you so much baby." Sam called out quietly, closing the door softly behind her.

As she crouched down and started making her way down the hallway, she thought of how much she hated leaving her baby behind. But at least this way her daughter would be safe now. There was no way for her to take Lily and run from here now, knowing that the other men had weapons of their own. They wouldn't have made it ten steps out of here before they would have come down shooting. Her thoughts again momentarily drifted to Eduardo and the other guys, wondering where they were and if they were alright. But her thoughts were quickly returned back to her own situation when the door in front of her burst open.

She met one of the men's eyes and grabbed her pistol from her holster. Although it had no bullets, she grabbed the hilt of it and chucked it at the man, then turned to run. As she began to run, someone grabbed her from behind, pinning her arm up behind her back painfully. She went to scream, but as something slammed against her neck, her eyes lulled and her world went black.


	9. Chapter 9

Sam groaned as she awoke, feeling her head throb. She squinted her eyes open, peering around the small, dark room. It was quite small, and aside from the window at the top of the door, there was no other source of light coming in. She went to stand, but felt her arms pull her back down, hearing as two chains rattled behind her. Looking back, she saw the chains that confined her wrists, keeping her pinned to the wall. She let out a frustrated sigh. She was _really_ getting tired of waking up in unfamiliar places.

She lowered her hands down to the floor, feeling the ground beneath her as she tried to figure out exactly where she was. The floor appeared to be stone, from the feel of it. Hard, cold, and slick feeling. As she looked up she saw that the walls were as well. The door appeared to be some sort of metal, as it shone slightly from the light pouring in through the window. Sam raised her eyebrow curiously. She couldn't be on a ship. She had to be in some sort of a building. Where, she had no idea, and she had no idea how she'd gotten there. She must've been knocked out for quite some time for someone to have transported her to a building. The only place she could think she could be would be somewhere in Moldor. It was the closest city to where the naval base was, so she could've been easily transported from one to the other.

Slumping back against the wall, she rested her throbbing head back and closed her eyes. Her mind began churning out questions, like _why_ she was still alive. Not that she wasn't extremely grateful or anything, but from all outward appearances, these guys had made it blatantly clear that they would kill anyone caught on a pirate ship. Why had she been spared? She remembered hiding Lily in the supply closet before being attacked, and she squeezed her eyes tightly, hoping that they hadn't found her and that her daughter was still alright.

Fiddling with the cuffs attached to her wrists, she thought of Eduardo and the other guys. She worried that something had happened to them, as they hadn't shown up when the group had started attacking the base. She hoped that they were alright, and had found Lily ok. The room was so dark that the light shining in from the small window atop the door seemed bright in comparison. She tried to see if she could see where she was, or just what was outside the room, but found herself unable to. The only thing she could see was blue skies outside.

Footsteps echoed, coming closer to the room, and Sam recoiled as the door to her room opened. Light poured in, invading her senses, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut from the onslaught. The footsteps came slowly towards her, and she felt someone grab her chin and tilt it up. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked up at the man holding her chin. He was quite large, much taller than she was, and he had a patch over one eye like Eduardo did. She could see the faint outline of a scar running from the top of his head, over where the patch was, and downward.

"Well good morning there sunshine. Sleep fine?" The man rasped. His voice was low and sounded as if he were gargling rocks as he spoke.

When she didn't reply, he squeezed her chin harder, and looked over his shoulder at two men who were now standing behind him in the doorway. He nodded to them and they walked forward, each grabbing an end to the chain's holding Sam down. Sam heard the chains rattle, and then two clicks, followed by a loud clamping noise. Sam wiggled her arms to realize they had undone the chains holding her to the ground, but had clamped a device around her wrists, binding them behind her back. The men then stood her up, facing her towards the larger man. Smiling, he nodded his head towards the door, and stepped outside. The two men followed, dragging Sam along with them as they followed after the larger man.

Keeping pace with the larger man, Sam was pushed alongside him. She looked about, taking in her surroundings as she was shoved along. They appeared to be in some castle, from the look of the intricate stone surrounding them. She realized it must be the old abandoned castle up the mountain from Moldor. It had been abandoned for many years, as the new king had built a different castle closer to Moldor. They walked around the outside of the castle, the outer pathway that circled the castle, and also where the surrounding chambers were known to hold the castle's prisoners.

"Who are you?" She asked, looking up at the man.

"My name is Nick. I'm the second officer in command here."

"Who's the first?"

Nick smiled, flashing his teeth down at her as they continued to walk. "I think you already know the answer to that question."

Sam thought a moment. "Daniel…"

"Indeed. Captain Daniel is the one in charge of this command. I'm in charge until his return."

"His… return?"

Nick nodded. "Indeed."

"What is it that you want with me?"

Nick smiled. "You my dear are our way of getting our Captain back?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "And how the hell are you going to do that?"

"You sure have a foul mouth for a woman."

"I don't take kindly to people trying to kill me or my family."

Nick looked over at her and smiled again. "Your… family… right. Well if I were you I would hold my tongue around here. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt at the moment since you've just awoken, but remember that I will not tolerant a woman behaving around my men in that manner."

"What is it that you're going to do with me?" She repeated.

"You're our… how should I put this… our way of convincing your little… pirate friends, of helping us get Captain out of prison."

Sam stopped and looked up at him. "What do you mean by us helping you get him out of prison?"

Nick leaned forward and grabbed her chin again. "Your little friends are well aware that we have you with us now. You being the only woman on board is a benefit for us." Sam mentally sighed in relief. They didn't know about Lily. She was at least grateful for that.

"What do you mean?"

"Well if they want you back, they're going to break our Captain out of prison, and return him to us. And when he has been safely returned to us, we will then, in turn, return you to your little friends."

Sam sneered at him and chuckled quietly. "If you think you're fooling me, let's just get straight to the point. Shall we? We both know that you're not going to return me to them. You're going to kill them after they give you Daniel. Aren't you?"

Nick smirked at her again before releasing her chin. "Well I will give you this one wench. You're smart at least."


	10. Chapter 10

"Where are you taking me?" Sam asked as the two men continued to drag her alongside Nick as he walked.

Nick smirked down at her. "Your little friends should be here soon. You've been unconscious for a few days, so they've been quite busy in your absence."

Sam swallowed thickly. Days? She'd been unconscious for days? She tried to wrap her mind around it as they walked around a corner, towards a large empty space in the castle that looked like it had been a courtyard years ago. In the distance, towards the entrance to the castle, she could see some of Nick's men standing, guarding. The two men at her sides halted her, and held her up. They stood directly in the middle of the courtyard and Sam looked around curiously. Men stood around the entrance, guns at the ready as the gates began to open.

As the gates opened, she could see a group of men walking in slowly, and as she could make out their forms more, she realized that it was the guys. She instinctively took a step forward towards them, but Nick grabbed a hold of the cuffs behind her back, and held her back. She looked up and met Eduardo's eyes as he stepped further into the castle. He too took a step forward but Nathan grabbed his shoulder and shook his head gently at him.

Nick stepped forward, dragging Sam with him. "It's about time you lot showed up."

"Sam, are you alright?" Eduardo called out, ignoring Nick. Sam smiled weakly and nodded.

Nick rolled his eyes. "You have our Captain?"

Eduardo nodded solemnly, stepping to the side to reveal Daniel, walking behind him. Daniel looked much older than he had the last time Sam had seen him. He was much skinnier, and his face was now rough with a beard, but he stepped forward confidently. Nick smiled as Daniel made his way towards him, walking cockily as he shoved through the pirates.

"It's been a long time Captain." Nick said as Daniel came and stood in front of him and Sam.

Daniel smiled. "It certainly has my friend." Daniel extended his hand, and Nick clasped it firmly with his free hand, shaking it warmly.

Daniel looked over at Sam and smirked eerily at her. "Well, well. What do we have here? It's been a while Sam."

"Not long enough." Sam spat out.

Daniel lifted her chin up to look at him. "How's parenthood treating you, hm?"

Sam felt the color drain from her face. "H-How did you know about that?"

"You think I didn't hear about things while in prison? Please. I know all about your daughter. What is her name again? Oh well."

Sam struggled against Nick's grasp. "Don't you dare touch my daughter you hear me?"

Nick cleared his throat. "Well I'll give this woman here some credit, the boys weren't able to find her daughter when we went to search for her. They settled for her when they couldn't find the kid."

Daniel sighed. "Well, it's such a shame she'll end up an orphan by the end of today."

"Alright you have your Captain," Eduardo called out, not hearing the exchange between the three, "now send Sam over."

Daniel turned around and smiled. "Nah. Think I'll keep her around. Motherhood seems to have suited her figure."

Daniel waved his hand and the men hiding around the castle ran forward and surrounded the group. Eduardo folded his arms across his chest and smirked up at Daniel, as the men surrounded them. Seeing his expression, Daniel took a step towards the group.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" He demanded.

"I just feel bad for you. Thinking ya won so easily."

Daniel took another step forward. "What the hell do you mean? I have won."

Eduardo sighed and shrugged. He looked over at Sam and smirked at her, winking. Sam raised an eyebrow to him. What was he up to?

"So you think."Nathan piped in.

"Now!" Eduardo screamed, and the group quickly ducked.

Everything after that seemed to go by in slow motion. As the group ducked down, they threw themselves into the men surrounding them, tackling them to the ground. Fighting broke out amongst the group as men began appearing from outside the gates. But they didn't appear to be with Nick and Daniel, but with the Sirius. Gun shots echoed all around as Sam could see men appearing from the top of the castle, shooting down at Daniel and Nick's men. Sam looked up at the men, and saw that they were wearing naval uniforms. The navy?! They'd brought the navy with them?!

Nick and Daniel appeared to be stunned by the sudden onslaught. Their men appeared to be as equally unprepared for the attack, as the navy and the Sirius pirates quickly started defeating each person and began arresting people. Daniel looked at Nick and shrugged, then turned on his heel and quickly ran off to escape the navy, abandoning his friend who had worked so hard to break him out of prison. Nick called after his friend, who ignored him as he tried to escape with his own life, leaving Nick behind with Sam.

Eduardo fought off men as he made his way towards Sam, who was still in Nick's grasp. Nick pulled his pistol from its holster and aimed it at Eduardo, as he came charging towards them. With her arms still behind her, Sam quickly tackled him around the middle as he went to pull the trigger, knocking him to the ground. The bullet went whizzing off over Eduardo's shoulder as Nick's pistol went flying from his hand. The two crashed to the ground, Eduardo continuing to make his way towards them as Nick quickly recovered. Sam scrambled to get up quickly and escape, but Nick grabbed the cuffs locking her arms behind her back, and yanked back, pulling her back to the ground with him.

"You all planned this, didn't you!? You ruined everything!" He bellowed as Sam kicked out at him, trying to get him to release her. He managed to catch hold of her leg as she swung out at him, and grabbed it tightly. Lifting her leg up, he threw her into one of the walls. Crying out, her body slammed into the hard stone wall and slid down to the ground below. She struggled to stand back as he made his way towards her. He went to grab her, but was stopped when Eduardo ran forward and tackled him from the side.

Sam winced in pain as she went to get up, watching the two men struggle with one another. Eduardo quickly got the upper hand of the fight, and pinned Nick effectively to the ground. Eduardo then began pummeling Nick's face with his fists. She watched in awe for several moments as Eduardo unleashed his fury onto Nick, showing no mercy as he landed punch after punch into his body.

"You son of a bitch! Don't you _ever_ touch my wife again!" She heard Eduardo shout at Nick as he continued to beat him senseless.

Navy soldiers came running in through the gates, surrounding the other men. It had all happened so fast that Sam reeled as she managed to sit up. Thomas and Russell ran over to help Sam up as some of the navy men ran over to assist Eduardo with Nick. It took several of them to pull Eduardo off of Nick, but they finally managed to separate the two.

"Eduardo…" Sam said quietly, Thomas trying to figure out how to release her wrists from the cuffs. She rubbed her wrists when they were finally released, and Eduardo took two long strides over to her, and gathered her in his arms. He trembled as he held her in his arms, and she clutched his jacket in her hands.

"Lily? Is she alright?" She asked quietly.

Eduardo nodded. "She's alright. She's with Leonardo."

"Thank god…" She whispered.

Eduardo stroked her hair gently. "Her mother hid her very well. It took us a while to find her ourselves."

Sam smiled against Eduardo's shoulder. "I'm so glad you both are alright."

Eduardo tilted her head up and kissed her fiercely for a moment. "God Sam I was so damned scared."

"You? Scared?"

"Yes even I can get scared idiot. We were out fighting on the beach. We had no idea that anyone had managed to sneak past us. Then we heard gun shots coming from the base, and we tried to make it back, but they blocked us. By the time we did get back, and we couldn't find you or Lily…" His voice trailed as he squeezed her to his chest.

"Eduardo…"

"I called for you and Lily, and I heard Lily's voice. We managed to pull her out of the closet, and she told me that the two of you were playing hide and seek?"

Sam laughed despite herself. "She loves playing hide and seek. I thought if I made it into a game, she wouldn't be quite as scared."

Eduardo chuckled. "It worked. She got mad at me when I pulled her out. She said that the two of you were playing and I was ruining it."

Sam smiled. "Sounds like Lily."

"I don't know how long she'd been in there when we finally did find her. But then we couldn't find you, but they'd left a note for us, saying that they had you and I swear to you that my heart damned near stopped beating."

"I'm here now." She said calmly, holding her husband.

Leonardo stepped forward through the crowd of navy officers towards Sam and Eduardo. Sam could see Lily as she came from behind him, and seeing her mother, she went running towards her Sam. Sam released Eduardo and scooped her daughter up into her arms, planting kisses all over her face.

"Oh Lily honey! I'm so glad you're alright!"

Lily hugged her arms around Sam's neck. "I missed you mommy!"

"I missed you too baby!" Sam whispered as Eduardo hugged the two of them to him, kissing Lily's head.

Leonardo smiled at them. "Well, everything's in order now, and we now have Nick and Daniel thanks to you. We are once again in debt to you Sirius pirates." He nodded his head politely at them, and then turned around to deal with all of the prisoners being led out of the castle.

Eduardo leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Sam's. "It's finally all over with now."

"Finally." She repeated, kissing her husband happily.


End file.
